Accomplish the Impossible
by My Lady Death
Summary: I dunno... somthing I made up while trying to avoid my geography homework... just read it, okay??? Thank you. *smiles*


Accomplish the Impossible  
  
by Nightingale's Song  
  
  
  
Chapter One:  
  
Tenniva stared at the girl in front of her. Keladry was the first girl to have ever tried to be a knight without hiding her gender. It was odd, really, for in Tortall, though it was allowed for girls to become knights, it still wasn't respectable. Tenniva was working as a servant in the palace, and no one knew who she really was.  
  
Tenniva was a princess. She was the only royalty left of the island of Requira, and she had to hide from those that would kill her.  
  
So here she was, working as a simple servant in the palace of a king, when rightfully she should be in the guest bedroom, ordering servants around. Tenniva found that highly ironic. But she had no where else to go. After all, who else in the kingdom would hire a black girl who didn't have a last name or even a coin to her name?  
  
That wasn't true, Tenniva had about twenty heavy gold coins, and an assortment of valuable jewelry, all carefully sewed into her garments by herself, only four days before.  
  
Now Tenniva was to look after the room of Keladry, a squire.  
  
She felt like laughing. After all, if these people knew who she was, then they would be making squires serve her. But it was fitting, after all, because she must have ordered squires around many times in the past.  
  
"I'm Nevita." Teniva lied as she introduced herself. "you must be Squire Keladry."  
  
"Yes, that would be me," Keladry said with a smile. "But please, call me Kel. You're the only female company I have, we can't afford to be formal."  
  
Tenniva laughed. "You know what, Kel? I like you already. Call me Nevvi, or Vita."  
  
"Sure. Vita." Kel grinned at her, then helped her unpack her garments.  
  
*******  
  
Kel began to dress for dinner. As always, she wore a dress whenever she could, just to show all of them that she was a girl, she would dress like a girl, but she could fight as well as any of them.  
  
She put on her favorite gown, a white one with gold trim and embroidery, specially made so she could fight in it, if need be. She contemplated putting on a string of pearls, but then decided not to. I'll have to get my hair cut soon. Kel thought sadly. It had grown long enough so that it was past her shoulders, halfway down her back. The last time she had cut it was two years ago, and it had grown back as a golden blond, almost strawberry blond color, and slightly wavy.  
  
"That's nice." Vita said from the doorway. Kel started when she heard her, but quickly hid her surprise and welcomed the maid.  
  
"What brings you here, Vita? I don't need anything." She said politely.  
  
"Well, the other servants don't want me to associate with them." Vita said, smiling. "And since you were so nice to me before, I thought that I'd just come over and help you prepare for dinner, but you've done a very nice job by yourself."  
  
Kel smiled at her. "Thank you."  
  
"You know what?" Vita said, studying Kel for a minute. "You should do something with your hair."  
  
"I'm going to get it cut, maybe tomorrow." Kel informed her.  
  
"Don't!" Vita cried, looking scandalized. "Why on earth would you want to cut your hair? It's beautiful! And look at that colour!"  
  
"I have to get it cut, Vita, because it will get in the way. What if it gets caught on something? I have to fight, and-"  
  
"So put it up!"  
  
"Put it up?" Kel repeated, confused. What good would pinning her hair in elaborate designs do her? The last time she had put her hair up, she had almost tipped over from the weight of the pins used in her hair.  
  
"Yes. Not in those horribly showy things that are used all the time around here.... Look." Vita reached over and pulled Kel's hair up into a slightly messy bun at the nape of her neck. "You could do that if you had to wear a helmet," She twisted it a bit, then pulled it higher on her head and showed Kel how to make a tight bun on the top of her head. "Or like that if you didn't want it in the way. But you can't just cut it off, Kel! Your hair can be a great asset if you know how to use it right."  
  
"What on earth do you mean?"  
  
"I mean that as a knight, you're going to have to deal with a lot of stuffy old men who think that a woman has no place fighting, or being a knight, or anything. So you can just manipulate them."  
  
"What?" Kel exclaimed.  
  
"I mean, flirt a little, make them like you. And then remind them that since a woman has no place being a knight, you obviously shouldn't be there. Make them sorry, and they'll be begging you to come back. Therefore, by a little old fashioned feminity, you've won both arguments." Vita said simply, then started to pin Kel's hair up.  
  
"So I should flirt with them?" Kel asked, shocked.  
  
"No, not really. Don't flirt, don't be obvious, and for Mithros' sake, don't purr and simper like those court ladies!" Vita said enthusiastically. "But whenever you don't know what to say, just pause a minute, then smile at them and say you agree. Unless they were being sexist pigs, in whicjh case, just giggle and say, 'oh, that's not fair!'"  
  
"Um..." Kel thought for a minute, then grinned at her. "You know what Vita? You're probably right, but I don't know what my hair has to do with it."  
  
"Well, if you have your hair out, you always keep tilting your head so your hair spills over one shoulder. For some odd reason, Men love that. And if it's up, have little wisps out so that you can tuck one behind you ear. But only tuck one behind your ear, and make sure that it comes out two seconds later. That way you always have something to do with your hands so you don't strangle the bastards." Vita replied, then grinned at her. "You're hair's done. You should probably go down to dinner, they won't be starting, but you might want to practice your newly aquired knowlege on someone younger than you."  
  
Kel smiled at her, and looked at herself in a looking-glass. Her hair was up, in a slightly elaborate, but not gaudy, design on her head, and there were little wisps of hair in front of her face. It went well with her dress, and it made her eyes look bigger. Kel smiled more when she saw that she didn't look like a female body-builder in a dress, but she looked like a proper young lady.  
  
She walked down the corridor to the hall.  
  
It wasn't full, far from it, actually, but she saw a goodly amount of people inside, mostly pages and younger squires. The hall fell silent for a second when she entered, and she could feel every man in the room's eyes on her.  
  
What? Was something wrong with her dress? Was her hair coming out?  
  
Kel ignored them, thinking like a Yamani. Stone. She thought, I am stone. She walked right up to the squire's table, and sat down beside Neal.  
  
"Wow, Kel, you look different." Neal said appreciatively, then resumed his conversation with Merric.  
  
"Keladry!" Kel heard someone call. She turned around and saw Devonny of Schekuila, a very extinguished lady who had only been at court once before. "Keladry, do come and sit with me at my table, I'm the only lady there and it's horribly boring listening to all these MEN talk about politics." She said happily.  
  
Kel really didn't know Devonny that well, but at least she wasn't ignoring her, like Neal, so Kel got up and walked with Devonny to her table.  
  
"Gentlemen, this is Keladry of Mindelan. She's going to be joining us today." Devonny said as they sat down.  
  
One of the gentlemen smiled at her. "I am Esmond of Tasride." He introduced himself.  
  
Kel nodded but refrained from commenting. Everyone she knew had told her Esmond of Tasride was a sexist jerk who thought women didn't even have souls, and didn't deserve rights or even be able to say no to a marriage.  
  
"How are you today?" He asked  
  
"I'm a little bit tired from practice," Kel said, fluttering her eyelashes, "But other than that, I'm fine."  
  
"Practice?" He looked mildly confused.  
  
"Yes, archery and sword practice. I did a bit with my glaive, naturally, but I'm so used to it that it's not tiring. And how are you?"  
  
He glared at her. "Who are you again?" He asked, still being polite.  
  
"I'm Squire Keladry of Mindelan." Kel said, smiling at him. He looked shocked, then promptly averted his gaze and struck up conversation with another man.  
  
"Well done." Iranne of Mahandi's Hill giggled as she took the seat next to Kel. "It's about time someone put that idiot in his place!"  
  
Kel laughed, and then struck up lively conversation with some of the other ladies who had just walked in with Iranne.  
  
*****  
  
Tenniva was watching the banquet from a far corner of the hall. No one noticed her, after all, she was a servant, and servants in a palace were certainly not rare or anything to goggle at.  
  
She was watching Prince Roald, actually, because he was'nt doing much.  
  
Roald was usually a lively, animated, easygoing person, she had been told. But today he sat in his seat by his father, and looked fairly sad.  
  
I wonder why? She thought to herself.  
  
Suddenly, something unexpected happened. King Jonothan gestured for her to approach him. Tenniva felt her chest tighten, but she walked up to him and kept her head down, remembering to act humble, and curtsy.  
  
"Please, could you get me and my son some wine?" He asked politely. Tenniva realized that he didn't think she was a servant, but a young visitor, visiting a brother in the pages' wing.  
  
Tenniva smiled at him, and answered graciously. "Of course I shall, your majesty."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Tenniva went to the kitchens. "What do you want?" Another servant asked her. Tenniva glared at him until he averted his eyes.  
  
"The KING requires wine." She said cooly, watching his eyes widen as he realized that the king had sent her.  
  
"I'll get that for you right away." He said, and scampered off, appearing seconds later holding a flask of wine.  
  
Tenniva took the flask, and then went to the king's table, and curtsyed again, before pouring Roald some wine, and then the King.  
  
"Thank you." Roald said, smiling at her briefly. he took a sip of the wine, and then suddenly his head snapped around and he stared at her, squinting slightly, as if trying to place her. "I know you." He said, staring at her, searching her face.  
  
Tenniva simply curtsyed, and then smiled slightly at him.  
  
Suddenly his face lit up. He'd recognized her. "Tenniva!" He hissed. "Everyone thinks you're dead! What happened after the rebellion? What happened to you? How did you get here?"  
  
"My name is Nevita, your highness." Tenniva said demurely. She looked at him and saw that he wasn't buying it. "I will be in the gardens after dinner." She whispered, then she handed him the flask of wine, and walked out of the hall.  
  
~~**~~**~~**~~**~~  
  
A/N: Well, that's all of Chapter one. There will be more. You will understand everything... and it does have a plot. It has a very good plot, as a matter of fact, and it will become appearant very soon. Like in the next chapter. Anyway, this is it all. So thank you for reading, goodbye, and please review.  
  
**~*ME!!*~** 


End file.
